Sunday, January 20th, 2019 was a super moon (close to the earth), blood moon (lunar eclipse), and wolf moon, the first full moon of January. Here in the greater Seattle area we weren’t sure if we’d be able to see this phenomenon or not thanks to wide rafts of clouds that teased us all day.

When 7:30 rolled around, to our delight and amazement we could actually see a shadow beginning to crawl across the lower left quarter of the moon. This prompted numerous brave souls to bundle up like mountaineers and race to hilltops, docks, and fields to bask in the angry red glow that devoured our faithful satellite.

It was cold out and trying to figure out a new tripod in the dark on a platform rattled by others’ footsteps meant far more misses than hits. I changed locations late in the eclipse, braced against a cedar in near darkness, hoping for just that one photo that would make sitting in the 40-degree weather for two hours (and tripping over a large rock) worth it.

Upon closer examination, I didn’t take a bunch of great photos, but instead discovered curious faces and creatures among the attempts.

In this first photo, you can see a dollop of vanilla on top of the creeping orange sherbet, like a fiery Pac-Man closing his mouth in slow motion as he screams across the galaxy.

One of the first decent closeups as the moon disappears from the sky.

Another view of the great vanishing moon act.

I tried to get more of the orange back into the photo… I do think it’s smiling in that first photo (cheese!). Besides the happy clown face, you might also see a bearded man with sunglasses.

And then it blew up. Not sure how this happened…

I seem to have the beginnings of an awesome retro album cover in this case.

Finally… luna as she is meant to be seen on this night.

And then some galactic colossus snatches the celestial basketball from the heavens for a slam dunk. Do you see the hand?

Am I staring at Mercury or the moon?

Here a dragon curls itself around the moon as if to claim the dim orb as its own.

Next a bearded giant heaves the moon upon his right shoulder and starts to carry it off.

You can see his profile clearly. My first reaction was “moon dude!”

Clicking onward, I inadvertently discovered these Pictish beasts. You might also see several faces including the moon’s exactly as he appears in Victorian nursery rhymes. Or Richard III’s.

Planet Vulcan??!

Aha, finally. I found the wolf. Do you see him howling? This was, after all, a wolf moon. It was about time.

The contrast of colors as the shadow slithered off the moon was even sharper through the trees.

WATT is happening here? It looks like I stumbled upon a cross between Jabba the Hutt, a pre-reveal Mr. Voltner in Scooby Doo, and Mothra. Don’t see it? Check out the rotated version in the second photo.

Perhaps I caught the luminous wings of an angel.

God must have had so much fun making all of this.

We won’t see another lunar eclipse until at least 2021. In the meantime, embrace the imperfect images that might turn up on your camera. Sometimes you can see far deeper into those than the photos you expected to get.

Today on January 1st, 2018, we were blessed with one of the most beautiful full moons I’ve ever seen. I ran out onto the dock of Log Boom Park in Kenmore, Washington to try and capture the glory of the moonrise and light.

Looking down the dock to the south. This is at the northern end of Lake Washington, which divides Seattle and the Eastside.

Phalacrocoracidae, commonly known as cormorants. There were also many ducks.

The gargantuan full moon soars over the horizon.

The color seemed unusual for this time of year, such a rich and buttery yellow-orange.

And once again, the roosting birds, who seemed completely unfazed by the frigid temperature.

Like this:

WOW. I was just coming home from the store and had to stop to take pictures of this gorgeous rising moon. I couldn’t quite get a steady shot, even balancing the camera on a fire hydrant, but you can see why I was in awe.

We aren’t due for another blood moon yet, but this looked more like one than some of the actual lunar eclipses we’ve had recently.

As I was taking photos, a woman walked by and asked if I’d seen the setting sun also. I hadn’t. She said that tonight it, too, was blood red. We wondered if it means something…

(Update: the news said this was caused by fires on the Olympic Peninsula.)

Like this:

Tonight I was taking pictures of the gorgeous rising moon glowing through an ethereal midnight blue canopy. I was trying out a different camera and was very pleased that I could simply zoom in on the moon and see such detail. What an improvement!

This weekend we have a supermoon, technically lunar perigee when the moon is closest to the earth. There are some wonderful details at Space.com. The Seattle Japanese Garden is hosting its enchanting annual Moon Viewing Festival (Otsukimi) Saturday night.

There is such a gravity to the moon’s presence nowadays, as if it’s signaling an unprecedented shift in the human condition. This reminds me not to trust the created, but the Creator, as He, transcending time and space, is our only unchanging hope.

I found the negative image soothing as well, like the first view of a new planet through a sea of light after a long journey…